Another cold Melbourne night... :
Have been having issues with the popper not getting properly hot, even modded with a thermostat bypass.
Tonight I tried a simple trick of holding a wooden block across the top of the chimney to restrict the airflow. I did this somewhere after 1st crack, to keep the temp climbing into 2nd.
This really seems to work well; the fan could be heard loading up and getting quieter (much like an espresso pump!), and the beans jumped around less. The drop in fan noise also meant that 2nd crack could be heard much more clearly!
The beans came out smoking hot! (ran it well into 2nd to see what would happen.) I havent been able to push the temp that high on the popper otherwise.
I know the above has been discussed before, just thought Id reiterate it
The other thing that occurred to me came as I sat looking at the colander sitting atop the chimney. (I use it to block flying chaff). Surely I could fill that colander with beans, and gently warm them up prior to going into the popper? The aim being to extend the warmup time before first crack, which poppers invariably do very quickly.
Worthwhile, or bad idea? I guess I can always try...
Have been having issues with the popper not getting properly hot, even modded with a thermostat bypass.Tonight I tried a simple trick of holding a wooden block across the top of the chimney to restrict the airflow. I did this somewhere after 1st crack, to keep the temp climbing into 2nd.
This really seems to work well; the fan could be heard loading up and getting quieter (much like an espresso pump!), and the beans jumped around less. The drop in fan noise also meant that 2nd crack could be heard much more clearly!
The beans came out smoking hot! (ran it well into 2nd to see what would happen.) I havent been able to push the temp that high on the popper otherwise.
I know the above has been discussed before, just thought Id reiterate it

The other thing that occurred to me came as I sat looking at the colander sitting atop the chimney. (I use it to block flying chaff). Surely I could fill that colander with beans, and gently warm them up prior to going into the popper? The aim being to extend the warmup time before first crack, which poppers invariably do very quickly.
Worthwhile, or bad idea? I guess I can always try...
